Unless I'm reading this wrong, it looks like Sega and any other developers are up the proverbial shit's creek for the next five years. As good as they might be able to innovate game play, there's no way they can survive without the NFL franchise. I guess they'll have to fall back on NCAA football. This is disappointing, if only because we don't need EA getting a virtual monopoly like this.

Originally posted by JayJayDeanDidn't EA put out the only NCAA game this year as well?

Yes, but that was because the NFL was there. Now that EA has exclusive rights, we'll probably see a few more college games next year. At least until EA makes so much money with their NFL monopoly that they can buy the exclusive rights to the NCAA as well.

"He is the most overrated piece of crap in the league. He bitched and whined after he got his ass beaten in New England last year, so the NFL changed the rules. Then he got his ass beaten in New England again. Every year he's the top MVP candidate. Every year he's supposed to be the best. Every year he's going to carry the Colts to the Super Bowl. And every single year he goes to New England and gets his ass beaten. And his brother's a whiny little bitch." -A friend of mine, on Peyton Manning

Should SEGA even come out with a pro-football game next season? Does anybody remember playing the non-licensed games on older generation consoles? I had Madden for the TurboDuo (yes, I chose the Duo over Genesis, I'm an idiot), and it pretty much sucked. Sure, I had #32 on a Green team from Philadelphia, but it clearly wasn't Ricky Watters or the Eagles. Of course, the sucky gameplay ruined that game, as well.

Though, I am happy that both the team licenses and the NFLPA license went to the same company. Weren't there games a few years ago that had the players but not the teams, and vice versa?

Anyone wonder had ESPN not decided to throw down with the 20 dollar price tag, that EA doesn't go after the exclusive deal? I played both games personally, and thought Madden was better as far as gameplay went, and ESPN was better outside the game, with the Sportscenter features and all of that. Long Live Madden.

Relating to the earlier EA-only college title, THAT didn't suffer one bit, as they made some VERY nice improvements from NCAA 2004 to NCAA 2005, including expanding the rosters to 70 players (with their home towns included), adding the player discipline system, roster transfers in Dynasty mode, and the stadium-toughness rating thingy. They also added the feature that led to seniors being more reliable than inexperienced freshmen and probably some other stuff I'm forgetting.

“To get ass, you’ve got to bring ass." -- Roy Jones Jr.

"Your input has been noted.I hope you don't take it personally if I disregard it." -- Guru Zim

I much prefer college football anyway, so I'd love it if they slapped a NCAA logo on the 2K series and called it a day. I agree with vsp-screw EA-I've supported this series since the Dreamcast days, and I will continue to do so.

Maybe they can buy the XFL rights away from Vince? That would make TONS of cash. [/sarcasm]

"It's the four pillars of the male heterosexual psyche. We like naked women, stockings, lesbians, and Sean Connery best as James Bond because that is what being a [man] is." -Jack Davenport, Coupling

I was kidding about that whole "Fire Jim Tressel" thing. Really. I was.

Well, IGN (sports.ign.com) is reporting that EA is also looking to make the same agreement with the NBA and Major League Baseball. I guess a little competition scared them a bit (even though I don't think the ESPN stuff really took a dent out of their market share).

Electronic Arts also has exclusive deals with NASCAR, FIFA and the PGA Tour.

If you can get where Madden's going to end up based on where NASCAR 2005, FIFA 2005, and Tiger Woods 2005 have gone, then it's ALLLLLLLL GOOD, because those titles all ROCK and have shown absolutely ZERO signs of any stagnation.

NASCAR's FINALLY added some other series, and in a big way with the Featherlite Modifieds, Craftsman Truck Series, AND the (not the) Bussch Series, with a "Fight to the Top" mode where you start in a one-star (out of five) rated Modified car and try to work your way into the Nextel Cup series.

FIFA has a like a billion jillion players and league and expanded the Career mode to cover fifteen years, and markedly improved it over 2004's rather pathetic career mode.

TW2005 has a new "PGA Tour" setting which ups the difficulty significantly, along with Tiger-proofing where you can set the difficulty of the course so you can either easily score in the 40s or 50s or make 70 a difficult feat, kind of killing the "IT'S TOO EASY" fun-sapping non-replay value from the game.

DISCLAIMER: I am THE EA lemming, I guess. Unlike vsp, I LOVE EA and own currently NHL 2005, NBA Live 2005, Madden 2005, Tiger Woods 2005, NASCAR 2005, FIFA 2005, NCAA March Madness 2005 (the only one I think could be markedly imporved), NCAA Football 2005, MLB 2005, and Fight Night 2004.

“To get ass, you’ve got to bring ass." -- Roy Jones Jr.

"Your input has been noted.I hope you don't take it personally if I disregard it." -- Guru Zim

I know, I know, this won't hurt the NFL all that much. But I'd like to state right here - If you are a major company that wishes to have broad appeal to all markets, giving EXCLUSIVE rights is a bad idea.

Case in point: I am neither jonesing for my Hockey fix, nor my wrestling fix because I have nothing to remind me why I watched them in the first place. NHL Hitz got me rehooked on Hockey. Wrestlemania 2000 and No Mercy helped feed my wrestling addiction. I've since retired those games, and now I no longer have a fun reminder of why I liked watching either program.

Giving all your rights away to just one developer is shooting yourself in the foot. Sure you make a boatload of cash, but you're also exposing yourself to having the only game on the market representing you be awful. Awful games don't draw fans. Awful games don't keep you thinking about football/basketball/whatever 24-7. Good games DO.

-Jag

On the flip side, good games based on crappy sports kind of suck as well. I keep meaning to return my copy of NCAA 2005. Only undefeated team in the nation? And you give me the Liberty/Auto-Zone Bowl? Screw that.

"During his term in office, George Bush has relentlessly continued to be president—despite the clear benefits to America his absence would bring to the lives of citizens everywhere."

Now that I've had a good laugh reading over the ESPN and EA message boards (NOTHING brightens up your day like reading that crap), I've got a few more thoughts:

Doesn't EA already have exclusive rights to at least the BCS? I remember when Sega did their one and only college game in 2002, the only BCS bowl they had was the Rose Bowl, which was also the year it hosted the National Championship Game, IIRC. And if they DON'T already have the rights, I would not be surprised in the least if things weren't already in the works.

I hate that EA is trying to buy the election like this. I tried searching for sales numbers on the two games, but I came up empty (I suck at Googling.). Anybody have any idea on what the sales numbers for NFL2K5 and Madden were this year, compared to last year? Did they make up THAT much ground that they felt they needed to make this move?

As a long time fan of the series, this sucks for me. I had been burned out on Madden five years ago when I realized I was paying 50 bucks each year for essentially the same game. But I knew that the 2K series was never REALLY going to compete with Madden. NFL 2K5 is a videogame. Madden Football is part of pop culture. And given the few number of games (what, Mario, Pac Man, GTA?) that can say that, I never really expected them to topple the giant.

But, on the plus side, Sega Football 2K6 will be the only place you can find LaVar Arrington...

"It's the four pillars of the male heterosexual psyche. We like naked women, stockings, lesbians, and Sean Connery best as James Bond because that is what being a [man] is." -Jack Davenport, Coupling

I was kidding about that whole "Fire Jim Tressel" thing. Really. I was.

All this will do is force other gaming companies into incorporating more traditional video game values into sports games. Think about Def Jam Vendetta. Sure, it wasn't the best wrestling game ever, but it was still a great video game to play, both in concept and execution. I too fear the recursion of sports games without licensed teams (I still have nightmares about Cal Ripken's Baseball that came out for the SNES a long time ago). However, I have faith that most gaming companies today are a bit more in tune with their buyers, notably through the internet, as to what to produce.

The only problem I have now is imagining Mutant League Football and Hockey, along with Arch Rivals, redone with today's technology. Getting my hopes up like this sucks.

I have the Wii version, but haven't tried the code yet. I'm waiting to beat Easy Career. But, my bro-in-law used the code on the PS2 version, which is essentially the same version as Wii, and he got the co-op songs in single player.